Divorce by Consent Enforced by the Court

Abstract

Recently, the Thai Supreme Court’s Judgement No. 517/2560 has reaffirmed the precedent set by two previous verdicts upholding that if a couple has signed a divorce agreement but one party refuses to register the divorce, another party shall be entitled to enforce it by the court order. Furthermore, if the party still insists on refusing to register the divorce, the court order shall be deemed to be the intention of the parties. With regard to this matter, the author agrees with Professor Jitti Tingsabadh who has provided a different point of view. According to his opinion, an intention to register a divorce is a personal matter. It is not a declaration of intention that can be enforced as a juristic act or a contract. That said, if a spouse is not willing to give a divorce, he/she should not be forced by the court order to leave his/her spouse and children.